Trick or Tennis!
by Tengoku no Tsubomi
Summary: Nanjiroh decides to have a Halloween party at the Echizen household. Of course, he drags Ryoma into the whole ordeal, and being the obnoxious old man he is, decides to invite the whole school...RyoSaku.
1. The Pervert's Plan

-_Tsubomi gets up on a puppet show-like stage and clears her throat nervously, looking down at the chibi forms of her expecting readers. Some seem excited, beaming up at her. Others have their tomatoes in hand, waiting for an excuse to splat the author. Taking a gulp, she starts speaking.-_

**Tsubomi**: H-Hey, guys.

**Readers**: ...

**Tsubomi**: I know you've probably heard this a lot from other people, but this is my first time writing and posting a fanfiction.

**Readers**: ...

**Tsubomi**: Ahahaha...ha...ha...

-_Tsubomi whips out a gigantic poster board out of nowhere and hides behind it. In big, black, neatly handwritten letters it reads:_

**DISCLAIMER: **I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS.

_-Quickly, Tsubomi takes out a permanent marker and scribbles underneath:_

**_Read and rate please! All politely phrased compliments and criticism are welcome._**

**_P.S. This story takes place when Echizen is in 10th grade. In Japan, that means he's a freshmen in high school. And yes, for the sake of the story, he's on the regular team, which is the same as in the anime..._**

_-A tomato crashes against the poster board. Tsubomi lets out a yelp and madly dashes off of the stage, dropping the poster and dodging the incoming vegetables pelted her way.-**

* * *

**_

"No."

Nanjiroh poked at the large lump in the bed. Quivering seemingly in rage, a leg poked out and kicked in his general direction. He caught it and pulled, causing Ryoma, once hidden in the covers, to go tumbling onto the floor. Karupin meowed loudly and ran out of the room.

There was an eerie silence.

Nanjiroh looked in mock-innocence at Ryoma, who was glaring back at him.

"Come on. You know you want one." Nanjiroh took out his "reading material", sitting down on his son's bed.

"No, I don't."

"Do."

"Not."

Ryoma stood up and went over to his closet, grabbing a school uniform and trying to ignore his father. In his mind, he formed a plan. Today was Monday, which meant there would be school. If he could get out of the house fast enough, maybe he could get avoid this whole conversation.

He looked at his father and pointed outside his room."Get out."

Nanjiroh set down his newspaper and clapped his hands together happily. "All right, it's settled then." He raised his voice and yelled out, "Nanako-chaaaan...Ryoma-sama wants a paaarty!"

Ryoma froze.

A couple of girlish squeals and gasps of excitement from downstairs told him that apparently neither his cousin nor his mother disagreed with his father's idea.

"Ooh, I'll do the decorations!"

Ryoma cringed.

"Right then, maybe I can write out the invitations. Or maybe plan the games!"

Ryoma looked on in shock and horror at what was unfolding. His mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.

The talking from downstairs quickly took a direction that Ryoma didn't like at all. It began sounding more and more like an "it will definitely happen" tone. All the while, his father's annoying smile was just growing wider and wider. Fed up, he aimed the dirty magazine and newspaper that Nanjiroh had brought in his room at his father's head.

"I told you once already. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!"

Nanjiroh ducked and ran into the hallway outside Ryoma's room. The door slammed shut behind him, his son's loud cursing filtering through. He grinned, picked up his magazine and tucked it into his robes. "Think of all the cute high school girls that will be here!" He laughed almost maniacally and fled downstairs.

* * *

The dreaded conversation was still going on as Ryoma sat down at the table. Rinko and Nanako were chatting enthusiastically about costumes. Eager to leave, he quickly ate the food that his mother gave him, grabbed his o-bento box and ran.

* * *

The next day wasn't any better. 

In the beginning, he thought it had been good.

His father, who was still smug from his "victory", hadn't invaded his room.

His mother and cousin had quickly eaten their breakfast and went into another room, which was fine by him, because he was still angry about yesterday.

His school day progressed as usual.

It had all gone wrong during tennis practice.

He hadn't thought much about _it _at first. In fact, he thought it was a little bit of a _good_ thing.

Sakuno had come up to him, carrying a wrapped up package, when he was resting on a bench.

After a stuttering "O-O-baa-chan asked me to give this to you" and a muttered "Thank you", he had taken the box from her hands, and she had sat down next to him, fiddling with the ends of her skirt.

It was strange that, while the gifts and shouts of appraisal from other girls annoyed him to no end, something from her had always made him...kind of happy. He had never minded her company; in fact it was a pleasant relief from the bratty 'freshmen trio' and the teasing senpais.

When he took off the wrapping paper around it, he groaned at the irony at it all.

Inside, on top of what looked liked hundreds of disgustingly cheery cards was a note in his father's handwriting.

**_Ryoma-chan, make sure to deliver these to all the cuties in your school!_**

His teeth clenched and he could feel his face beginning to redden.

**_Oh, and I guess you can give them to your friends, too._**

Of all the people in the world, his father was the one who knew how to piss him off the best.

"A-Ano..."

Great. The person that he wanted least to see this was the one sitting right next to him.

"Daijobu, Ryoma-kun?"

He pulled his cap down over his face and prayed silently for this to end.

Perhaps if he left the stupid package behind, he could just tell everyone at home that he never received it.

The box was promptly handed back to him. He winced.

All of luck seemed to drain out of him when he wanted it most, and he could almost hear it laughing sadistically at him.

* * *

Sakuno felt bad for reading the note. She knew it wasn't any of her business, but after Ryoma had opened up the package, it was practically impossible not to see the writing. 

Still, her grandmother had said that it was from Ryoma's father, right? And she _had_ told her that Ryoma needed to keep the package. So when Ryoma looked like he was going to make a run for it, she scooped up what she knew was humiliating for Ryoma and gave it to him. She could practically feel the frustration radiating off of the boy next to her.

Becoming particularly interested in the lines on the tennis court and gathering up her courage to make her voice sound what she hoped was nonchalant, she said, "I could help you hand these out."

When she dared to look up, Ryoma was staring in surprise at her.

When all he did was pull down his cap, she began wondering what to do. Stay here or bolt away? Right now, she was favoring the second choice.

She was more than shocked when a card appeared, literally, right under her nose. She let out a loud 'eep' and closed her eyes. Trying to calm down her racing heartbeat, she opened her eyes.

"Jeez, you don't have to come if you don't want to. It's my stupid father's idea, anyway."

When she looked up to see Ryoma's face, his cap was down to the point of her not being to see his expression. Still, she blushed as she noticed that Ryoma was a _lot_ closer than she had originally thought he was.

Her mind stopped thinking coherent thoughts.

"Eh?"

Something dropped onto her lap. Somewhat relieved for something to distract herself from Ryoma, she picked up what appeared to be a card.

On the front was a cartoon of several black kittens stuffed inside a jack-o-lantern. Above the picture, the words _Happy Halloween!_ were written in sequined black letters. It was actually pretty cute. She opened it.

An invitation?

* * *

Sakuno was staring blankly at him. 

Heck, he had basically said flat out that he wanted to her to be there. Okay, maybe he didn't say it. But he had just given her one of those stupid, mind-boggling embarrassing cards. He slapped his hand over his forehead. What the hell had he been thinking?

Sakuno murmured something.

Unfortunately, Ryoma couldn't hear it.

"Hn?"

Sakuno's voice was so quiet that he barely could hear her next words.

"I'll go."

And then, before Ryoma could say anything else, half of his cards were gone and he was alone on the bench. He saw Sakuno wave a quick goodbye from the other end of the court, then walk out with her friend.

He allowed himself a small grin and walked back onto one of the courts.

"Aww, O-chibi's blushing!"

In about three seconds, all of the Regulars were swarmed around him. In the background, he could faintly hear Tezuka blowing a whistle and ordering everyone to do thirty laps around the court. That still didn't stop Momo and Eiji from pinching his cheeks as they had in middle school and crooning about how he was 'so young', despite the fact that he was as tall as they were.

Ryoma scowled. At least Sakuno wasn't here to see this.

* * *

_-Tsubomi wipes the sweat off of her brow.-_

It's harder writing romance than I originally thought... and I don't know if I like how it turned out. I was trying to make how the two like each other subtle, because even in their minds, I doubt they admit their undying love for each other every time the other does something. Any tips for writing romance without making it sound pointlessly mushy or out-of-character would be great.

_-sigh-_

I know it seems kind of short, but I think it was a good point for the chapter to end...I'm sorry; I'm not one who is really great with descriptive details. (I would also love to receive tips on how to make myself better at writing these.)

But I have reasons (sort of) for at least some of the shortness:

A.) I think we all know what Sakuno, Ryoma, and the rest of the Prince of Tennis cast look like. It's redundant if I kept saying that Sakuno's 'auburn hair' was tied into braids or that her 'chocolate brown eyes' met Ryoma's 'golden gaze.' _Psssht. _

_-Tsubomi laughs her head off. She quiets down as some rabid readers/authors start to growl at her.-_

B.) I also think we know what the setting, a tennis court, looks like, and I don't think readers are fascinated by the Echizen's meal table and the appearance of Ryoma's room...or are you? _0.0_

C.) Neither Ryoma nor Sakuno are really the overly talkative type, are they? I try to keep their conversations logical and teenager-like, so I kind of panic whenever there is dialogue because I'm trying to keep them in character and still have the story flow...which is really hard.

D.) I'm a first-time writer and poster of fanfiction. I know I might be repeating it a lot, and I'm even annoying myself, but I have virtually no experience writing this type of story.

_-Sorry for depressing you all!-_

In other news, I'm kind of slacking off on my math homework...Ugh...I wish I could bury it in the ground and that it would never come back, but it always comes back with a vengeance. Stupid semester exam packets...

**Readers:** This is your fanfiction, not the frickin' news channel.

_-Tsubomi lets out a scared squeak and runs away.-_


	2. Kuroneko

Sakuno felt like slapping herself.

_Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, STUPID._

Ryoma invites her to a party, and what does she do? She runs away in two seconds flat!

She talked with Tomoka for a while about the party, which thankfully distracted her a little. They chatted excitedly about the party together as they walked home. Halfway through the conversation,Tomoka was staring strangely at her.

If anything, Sakuno knew and dreaded that look. It was that same look in Tomo's eyes when she had shown her the cheerleading outfits.

She winced at the memory.

Tomoka's mom owned a costume store, and she had given them the outfits with a smile, insisting that they try it on the next time that the Regulars had a competition. She couldn't refuse Tomo's mom, so she had agreed to put it on, and when she had, it was one of the most embarrassing things she had ever done in her life!

Tomo had sported the short blue skirt and the yellow midriff with pride and (to Sakuno) what seemed like fiery passion, but all Sakuno could seem to get herself to do was hold the pom-poms in front of the shirt and pray that the skirt was long enough. and as it always seemed, Ryoma showed up at one of her humiliating moments.

The only thing she really remembered after that point was the surprise in his eyes.

She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't half-happy that he got to see her. After all, the look on his face was priceless. Still, it wasn't like she didn't know the equation to teenage minds: Boy plus Girl in Weird Outfit equals Staring session. And it didn't really count as a staring session. He looked at her for three seconds before mumbling something, pulling down his cap, and walking away.

So as Tomo set her eyes on her now, Sakuno couldn't help but feel a little, well, _scared_. Tomo was her best friend. But who wouldn't be even the teensiest bit scared of someone who delighted in dressing them up in weird outfits?

Tomo smiled at her and offered Sakuno her hand.

"Come on, since we don't have that much homework, why don't we go to my mom's costume store?"

Sakuno gulped but nodded. Really, what could she do? Ryoma's party _was _a costume party, wasn't it?

After calling her grandmother to tell her where she would be, Sakuno cautiously took Tomo's hand and allowed herself to be led to the building.

* * *

At the end of the day, Sakuno sat at her desk in her bedroom doing her homework. She finished and put away all of her assignments, pulled on her pajamas, and set out her school uniform for the next day. Heaving a sigh, she flopped down onto her bed.

She couldn't help but get back out and peek at the costume in her closet.

Tomo's mom had helped her pick it out. She knew that Sakuno didn't like things too short or skimpy, or something too flashy and gaudy.

Sakuno usually liked simple things, but the costume was pretty and, as cliche as it was, cute, after she had gotten over the initial shock.

She had been in the dressing room of the shop, and Tomo's mom kept handing over things. Most of them were okay, but none were something she really wanted to wear.

Then the costume that was now dwelling in her closet had been thrown over.

Her first reaction was no. No, no, no, no, no, with an extra piling of no's on top. But since Tomo's mom kept asking her, she gave in.

It wasn't like in overly romantic movies or books where a girl tries on a dress, and everyone goes, Whoa!

The costume was something completely out of her usual, and maybe that's why she picked it over all of the others. It was just something that she felt a little _special_ (another cliche, she winced) wearing, even though she knew that a thousand other girls would probably look better wearing it. So, not without some indecision, she bought the dress and thanked Tomo's mom.

Sakuno eyed over the outfit: a spaghetti-strapped, silky black dress that reached mid-thigh (she still was nervous about the length). The top part, being a corset, had originally freaked her out, but it was surprisingly comfortable when she got it to the right setting. Now (she laughed), it reminded her of people in the Western_ --what was it called?--_ "Victorian" pictures. The dress had also come with two black arm gloves and knee-high boots (with no heels, thank Kami, or else she would have tripped like no tomorrow).

One of her favorite parts:Tomo's mom had showed her how to attach two cat ear hairpins to where it looked almost like it came rather realistically from her head, and a black tail could also be attached around her waist.

Sakuno closed her closet, shut off the lights, and rolled back into her bed, her thoughts drifting back to Ryoma.

Excitement flooded through her. She lay there for a while, just thinking of what might happen. Her exhaustion caught up to her and she fell asleep, with a slight smile on her face.

_I hope he likes it._

* * *

I know. It's short, and in my opinion, it could've been a little better. AAAGH. Oh well, usually when I step away for a while, then come back and read it again, I think my writing's okay. But when I keep reading the same things over and over, I go into a little depression session. (Yes, a rhyme! I think rhymes are kind of cool.)

**Readers:** You grammar freak.

**Tsubomi:** Not really. There's a lot of cases where I'm rusty and I think, "Oh crap, what do I use for grammar in this situation?". Kind of like now. Plus, I use a lot of sentence fragments. (Still, I take some kind of weird joy correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. It's one of the reasons I want to teach English as a foreign language when I grow up, and since I love Japanese, even if I have to wait until college to learn it, it's two loves combined into one! That was kind of a run-on sentence.)

**Readers:** Dor-ky. Dor-ky.

**Tsubomi:** Pssht. You guys are all just jealous.

**Readers:** ...

**Tsubomi: **Or not. But deep down, you all love grammar.

**Readers: **Right...

Please ignore my nerdiness...or not. Embrace your inner nerd. Be one with it. Let it roam free in your mind.

It's your choice.

'Til next time,

Tengoku no Tsubomi


	3. Massive Locker Room Chaos

Ryoma wrenched his gym locker open.

After a practice that seemed like it would never end, he felt like punching each of his senpais in the face. None of them knew when to just shut up. And they were _still _laughing at him in the locker room as they got ready to go home.

He had said the same thing over and over. Nothing had gone on between him and Sakuno except for a simple conversation. It was a valid argument, Ryoma thought, because they _had_ just talked. The senpais didn't seem to think that way, though. After being pinched, poked and prodded, he was hastily putting on his day clothes and attempting to escape the day that was becoming a real-life nightmare. To think that he had been considering asking the Regulars to come to the stupid party! Although how he'd keep his pride he had no idea...

Ryoma swore under his breath.

Feeling around inside his locker for his backpack, he grabbed one of the straps and tried pulling. It didn't budge. Aside from the huge box of cards he had stuffed into the backpack, it was packed with all of the homework his teachers had given him.

Ryoma pulled again. It moved slightly before flopping back down on the bottom of the locker.

Momo and Eiji, who were changing next to him, started laughing at him. Getting angry, Ryoma put one leg on the side of the locker and pulled with all of his strength.

A couple things happened at once.

The good: the backpack got out of locker.

Ryoma had only a few seconds to slightly congratulate himself.

What he hadn't realized was the fact that his backpack was open. Papers soared through the air. Pencils and erasers clattered to the floor. And lastly, in what seemed like slow motion, the box, with its insecure lid, opened. The cards flew everywhere.

He watched in horror as the Regulars gathered around the mess and began picking cards up.

Ryoma slammed his locker shut, shaking in humiliation and planning on quickly picking up his fallen materials and trying to preserve what little would soon remain of his dignity. He closed his eyes for a second to compose himself and prepare for the inevitable.

Quicker than Ryoma thought, Eiji read a card and burst out. "Mou, O-chibi! Why didn't you invite _us_ to your party?" Oishi patted Eiji on the shoulder, shaking his head.

"Yeah, Echizen. Why didn't you?" Momo asked.

Ryoma chose to ignore their voices. Scooping up some of his papers from the floor, he took them over to his backpack and threw them in.

"Fssh. Because he didn't want you there," Kaidoh muttered.

"YOU WANNA GO, MAMUSHI?" Momo yelled.

The two started a mini-fight. The others just sighed and turned back to what, at present, was their source of entertainment: Ryoma turning as red as a tomato as he began picking up his scattered materials at a faster pace.

Tezuka and Kawamura remained silent, though an almost ominous aura enveloped the two of them.

"I could bring the Super Halloween Deluxe Akazu, and a party would be a great place to collect data." A familiar gleam from Inui's glasses caused most of the Regulars to back as far away from him as possible. Ryoma just cringed and threw what he had gathered into his backpack.

Meanwhile, Fuji was laughing and smiling sadistically, holding the card he had picked up in his hand. "Yes, that sounds delicious. But, Ryoma, please tell us why you didn't invite us. It sounds like so much _fun_, and the cards! Well, they're just so _cute_." He emphasized the last word, providing the opening of the dam that Ryoma had been trying to hold to stop his anger.

It was my father's idea, not mine, damn it!

There was a moment in which Ryoma quietly simmered and the rest of the Regulars stared at him. Ryoma lowered his cap and mentally berated himself for the explosion.

Eiji appeared quietly behind Ryoma, who didn't notice his presence until he had him in a headlock.

"Well, then, O-chibi-chan, consider us all invited."

Ryoma just stayed quiet and nodded his head. From the combined motivation of _not_ being suffocated and the fact that they were, after all, his friends, he couldn't help but agree.

A round of laughter and a murmur of agreement rang out through the locker room. After a while, the Regulars filtered out, saying good bye to each other and talking about what costumes they'd wear while Ryoma walked a ways behind them, having stayed a while in the locker room throwing away the remaining cards into the trash can.

Ryoma shook his head. However weird his friends were, they were coming to his party, and he had managed to maintain a small portion of his pride. As he entered his home, Ryoma began to think that maybe, just maybe, the party wouldn't be so miserable after all, even as the loud cries of Nanako yelling "HENTAI!" and chasing Nanjiroh around the dinner table began to sound throughout the house.

* * *

Keh...some of this seems a little out-of-character, but maybe that's just me...And yes, I do say 'Keh' in real life, all of you InuYasha fans...

After mentally hitting myself after posting chapters, I finally came across a revelation. Even though my chapters are relatively short compared to most writers', it doesn't matter as long as they are well written and my readers enjoy them. :) So far it seems like everyone is!

How did this sudden change of mind come about? I was reading this one really good InuYasha story, and I saw that the chapters were about as long as mine. I guess sometimes it takes someone else to realize that something you've got is good, too.

**Romantics:** Awww. That is so sweet.

**Tsubomi: **_-winces.- _Ah, crap. I sound all mushy.

**Readers: **_-sadistically grinning- _I think our Tsubomi has reached "that age" now.

_(A/N: From Bleach, oh yeah! Bleach fanatics might remember it...)_

**Tsubomi: **...No, it's just that (for once) something that I say actually sounds like a cool little philosophy that you might get out of a fortune cookie.

**Readers: -**_pinch Tsubomi's cheeks- _Goochi goochi goo.

**Tsubomi: **Stop mocking me!

_-Tsubomi chases after the herd of readers.-_

Er...what else should I say...ummm...I love fortune cookies...and...the end!

Of this chapter! (Did I scare any of you? Probably not.) : D

Til next time,

Tengoku no Tsubomi


	4. Preparing

Ryoma stared at the doors of the costume shop, dodging through the crowd and grudgingly heading towards what he reluctantly called his goal.

...Along with the most of the Regulars. They crowded around him, forming an almost-circle around him as he opened the door. For some reason, neither Tezuka nor Inui had shown up, but he was silently grateful. This was already awkward enough.

* * *

There were only 2 days left until the party, and only a conversation yesterday with Sakuno had forced him to acknowledge the grim reality that he actually had to buy a costume, even though his mom and cousin had been lecturing him for the past few days. When he and Sakuno had been working on a project in class together, she had asked him what he was going to be for Halloween and for the party,... leading to a long, unbearable pause in which he didn't answer, Sakuno repeated the question, and then neither spoke for a long time. The rest of the class continued in silence, and when it ended, she had gotten up, gave Ryoma what he took as an indignant and almost hurt look, and left, leaving Ryoma with a frightening aura of being jilted.

He guessed Sakuno could have a scary side, too.

And so, after feeling miserable (and guilty, damn her) all of tennis practice that day, he had decided to go after tennis practice to talk to Sakuno on the pretext of the project. The girls' team was still practicing, so he had grabbed a Ponta and went into the courts, ignoring both the distant jeers of his team members and the girls around him.

Sakuno, though, had been playing against another Girls' Regular. She had improved dramatically on her tennis under both her grandmother's and Ryoma's teaching since middle school, even if the latter's had been somewhat reluctant, and her posture, speed, and accuracy were much better.

Still, even the best can be brought down. The unexpected uproar caused Sakuno to look up, her former aim for the tennis ball headed her way switched from inside the court to somewhat outside the court, landing on the unfortunate Ryoma's forehead.

He had to admit that she could hit a fast ball. He still sported a little bit of the bruise.

But after taking him to the nurse and apologizing profusely, Sakuno and him got around to talking for a long while. Even though his head throbbed and he knew the bruise would soon turn a nasty color, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. In retrospect, he wondered why one look from her always caused him to go out of his way.

* * *

When he had treated the said bruise last night, it had shrunk considerably, the purplish-black color was mostly gone, and it was only a small patch. Ryoma hoped it would be gone soon, at least before the party. Momo and Eiji had all made fun of it, asking if Sakuno had finally gotten some sense and punched him out. Needless to say, they now bore their own personal fresh bruises, though he hadn't been lucky enough to hit their faces and had to settle for their arms.

That whole episode, Ryoma had to remind himself, had nothing to do with his present predicament. Surrounded by his senpais on what seemed liked all sides, he yanked the costume shop door open and hoped to get this done with as soon as possible.

No sooner than they had stepped in, the Regulars looked around. The walls were covered with a variety of masks and props, and there were shelves with all sorts of decorations. Everywhere, there were hangers with every kind of costume imaginable, and there were numerous dressing rooms in the back. The store, filled with a surprisingly large amount of customers, still maintained a homely atmosphere.

Eiji was in heaven, enthusiastically dragging Oishi along with him through the different aisles of the shop. Momo and Kaidoh moved to opposite sides of the store and perused through the costumes with what any mother would know as childish joy, even if the two wouldn't admit it, while Kawamura and Fuji made their way slowly through the crowd, laughing at some of the costumes and comparing their finds. Ryoma just decided to find the first decent costume he came across and buy it.

He grabbed the nearest hanger at random and pulled it out. He grimaced. Plumber.

The next one wasn't much better: Caveman.

Resigning himself to the fact that he'd actually have to look around, Ryoma decided that he'd just go with one of the "classic" Halloween costumes. He eliminated most of them, remembering occasions that his father had dressed up as these on past Halloweens and had went around "accompanying" girls that were trick-or-treating. In the end, Ryoma decided to get a vampire costume. Paying for it and meeting the other Regulars by the door, he shoved his purchase into his bag before they all headed back home.

* * *

The next day (the day of the party) was spent with Nanako and his mother frantically running around the house, giving out orders to Nanjiroh and Ryoma and preparing the set-up of the party. There was a great deal of hustle and bustle with getting out the refreshments and games that the two girls had made beforehand, and the handmade decorations they had cut out were hung by the two "men" of the house.

"It all seems overboard," Ryoma, already in costume and beginning to sweat a little, couldn't help but grumble to Nanjiroh, who had chosen to wear what looked like a monk's robe. (Ryoma had snorted at the irony.) "What the hell is the use of all these strings of paper hanging around?"

Nanjiroh shook his head in exasperation. "Haven't I taught you anything, boy? Girls need atmosphere. They want it. They _crave_ it. Everything has to be just right, Ryoma-tan." He clapped one hand on Ryoma's shoulder as if he was professing sage-like wisdom. Ryoma rolled his eyes, climbed up on a step-ladder, and hung up a garland of paper cutout bats.

Still, he wondered if his father was partially right. A knot formed in his stomach, and his guts felt like Karupin had just clawed them. He swallowed the lump in his throat, stepped down, and gave Nanjiroh a cold glare. He found that lessened the panic somewhat.

"Are you implying something, old man?"

"Why, yes, I am. Glad you noticed,"Nanjiroh simpered back. He picked up the last but largest decoration garland, took his own step-ladder, and gave one end of the garland to Ryoma, who grudgingly moved his step-ladder over to the wall.

_Alright,_ thought Ryoma. _Two can play that game. _

By now, the smile spreading across Nanjiroh's face was boiling his temper. Ryoma let out a breath. If he lost his composure, this wouldn't have _half_ the effect he wanted it to.

"May I ask you exactly _what _then?" Ryoma unintentionally growled despite wanting to stay calm, angrily securing the garland on the wall.

Nanjiroh batted his eyelashes in a fake-innocent way, and didn't answer him. He had hung up his end and stepped down.

Ryoma glowered at him and wondering what (probably perverted) thoughts were going through his mind. He accidentally missed a step on the ladder, landing less than gracefully on his knees and writhing with temporary but still cringe-worthy pain.

Nanjiroh let out a mock-gasp, dropping down on his knees next to his son. Ryoma stared strangely at Nanjiroh and wondered what was wrong with him. For the moment, though, he just closed his eyes and waited for the pain to go away.

Nanjiroh let out a giggle in a high-pitched, obviously imitated version of a girl's voice.

Ryoma's eyes snapped open and narrowed.

"Daijoubu ka?" Nanjiroh asked. "You worried me, _Ryoma-kun_." He began to attempt to arrange his hair into two braids which failed in staying put but managed to get his point across.

Ryoma's anger flared. Even Nanjiroh could see that he had gotten into the danger zone and decided not to mess around with Ryoma anymore today. He quickly stood up and tried to make a run for the door.

Too late.

Screams were heard throughout the house as Ryoma chased at Nanjiroh's heels, aiming hits at his father.

In the kitchen, Nanako and Rinko sighed and wondered what Nanjiroh had done to upset Ryoma that much. Rinko shook her head.

_Probably something perverted._

* * *

For some reason, whenever I think pervert, I think Miroku. C'mon, you just gotta love that lecher.

_-She is suddenly whisked into a meadow in the Feudal era with the Inu-tachi...-_

**Miroku:** Why, Tsubomi-dono, I never knew you felt that way. May I--

**Tsubomi: **_-laughs in spite of herself and watches Miroku has he draws her hands into his. She stops as she feels the threatening aura of Sango, who has approached Miroku from behind. Tsubomi anxiously tries pointing in back of Miroku and trying to get her message through to him, but his words come out before that.-_

**Miroku: **--ask you to bear me a child?

_-Tsubomi turns white with fear when Sango begins to advance on the monk and hastily whips her hand out of Miroku's.-_

**Sango: **_HOUSHI-SAMA..._

_-Sango whips out Hiraikotsu and begins chasing Miroku around the meadow. Tsubomi, Kagome, InuYasha, and Shippo watch him getting pummeled and sweatdrop.-_

**Tsubomi:** You do the honors, Kagome, since I forgot to say it at the beginning of the chapter.

**Kagome: **This is a Prince of Tennis fanfic, but okay. _-deep breath-_ Tsubomi doesn't own either Prince of Tennis or InuYasha.

If any of you haven't watched InuYasha, I highly recommend it! It's a great anime.

Anyway, a couple words to three of my reviewers--

**Rest of the Readers: **What about us?! _-a menacing aura surrounds them.-_

**Tsubomi: **_-begins apologetically bowing, slightly scared for her life-_ Sorry, it would drag on and on! I would if I could, but I can't because then my author's note would be longer than the actual story (which I think it is already, but I shouldn't add any more to the imbalance).

Ahem.

A couple words to three of my reviewers:

Aki Eschirott-san, Gomen nasai. I know I said I'd try for more than 2000, but it's too hard for me. The story portion is only 1407, so my author's notes in this chapter combined are longer than the story part itself. :(

ChrimsonChidori-san, I hope you enjoyed that part with Sakuno's tennis improving.

Fire19-san, I enjoy chatting with you via email/review. It's cool hearing your opinion of the weird things I say.

To all of my readers and reviewers: Thanks for the support thus far!

Also...

It probably sounds a little awkward hearing random Japanese in some places, but I think it adds to the effect.

Umm, I'm no medical expert, so I don't know how long bruises take to heal. I think one or two days, but I'm not sure.

-tan is an honorific used with sarcastic familiarity, I think. It's the Japanese equivalent to Ryoma-kins or Ryoma-poo.


	5. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

It rained the day, or technically, night of the party.

"Figures," thought Sakuno bitterly, shivering from the cold.

A loud crash of thunder boomed overhead. Sakuno felt some of the water splash into her boots and soak through them. That annoyed her, but she could have stood it. What was worse was the fact that the rain seemed to be pouring with so much force it was coming down diagonally. Her cat's ear pins steadily drooped, and she tore them out.

Her grandma had gone two days ago to some teacher's conference, and Tomoka's mom had driven her daughter to Ryoma's house earlier. Since she herself was horrible with directions, Sakuno had printed up a map online. That had been when the sun had actually been shining, that treacherous little sap, peeking through what seemed like just a little hint of tiny gray clouds. After getting ready at her house, Sakuno had set out, happily dressed her costume but nervous but excited about everybody's reaction to it, which she considered herself crazy then for buying.

If only she had gone with Tomo.

The rain had come only twenty minutes after she had started walking. Her printed map, which, long ago she had thrown into a trash can, had become blurry and totally unhelpful; she had as much chance of finding Ryoma's house as finding a pin in a haystack. After walking for about 30 minutes in the rain, she had considered going back. But then, she told herself, she didn't which way was back anymore. At first she had been desperate, looking in every place she thought would lead to Ryoma's house, but now she was dismally walking around the neighborhood, mud splattered on half of her legs and part of her dress from when a car had drove past her mercilessly, bearing a couple bruises and bleeding cuts on her legs and palms of her hands from tripping on the street.

Sakuno felt like crying, but she urged herself to hold her tears back. She was wet, angry, and frustrated, and she had been walking around for about an hour now. What she had once brought her all of the joy in the world was quickly dissolving around her, and now she didn't even know the way back to her own house. A couple teardrops strayed onto her face and mixed with the rain, but she brushed them off. After a while of panic and despair, she had just become blank on the inside.

Only cars were on the street, not people, because of the horrible weather. She was at least silently grateful for that, or else she would have been humiliated in front of people she didn't even know. In a trance, she walked past all of the unfamiliar houses, each one becoming a blur as more tears welled up. How pitiful was she to become lost like this? She really _was_ defenseless and stupid, just like Ryoma had always said in middle school.

"I'm probably going to be sick tomorrow," Sakuno thought numbly, vaguely registering the fact that she was sloshing through a puddle. Right now she didn't care. What use, really, was her costume anymore? It was soaked through and her hair was messed up, and she knew she looked a mess. Ryoma probably wouldn't care anyway if she wasn't at the party; he had just invited her because she had offered to give out half of the box of the cards to the party he hadn't even wanted.

She forced herself to stop thinking about that, forced herself from thinking about all of the work she had gone through for this party. What had she been expecting anyway? But Sakuno made up her mind: she was going to knock on one of the doors to the houses, ask if she could borrow their phone, and call Tomo's mom and ask her to pick her up. There she was, being a burden again, but she really didn't see any other way out of the situation. She chose a house at random off of the street and made her way toward it.

It looked like it was decorated for Halloween. She laughed mirthlessly at the irony, but then again, it wasn't even that ironic at all, since other houses were, too. Still, she had to ask the owner of the house politely and with composure for the phone, not break down in front of a total stranger. It took a minute to pull herself into a fragile facade.

"May I...may I use your phone?" she rehearsed to herself, knowing that she wouldn't convince anybody she wasn't upset. That didn't matter, though, she just needed to use the phone. She couldn't help but let out a small sob, cursing herself. The phone. The phone. She repeated that like a mantra to calm herself down unsuccessfully as she stepped up to the doorway and rung the doorbell.

_Phone. Phone. Phone._

* * *

Ryoma nibbled moodily at a cookie he had grabbed off of the refreshment table as if _it_ was the cause for all of his problems. Sitting down at a ledge to one of the windows, he pulled his knees up and sulked.

Sakuno wasn't anywhere to be found (it wasn't as if he had looked, of course...).

No, that didn't matter at all.

Not. At. All.

Okay, maybe just a little bit.

Why would she have come anyway? She was probably busy with something else and was too kind to turn him down, most likely handing out the cards because she was sorry for him.

The Echizen residence had quickly filled with his classmates (all who, Ryoma reminded himself, were invited by Sakuno), and loud music was blaring from the speakers, causing an almost tangible shaking. As to be expected, there was (to Ryoma's great disapproval) a lot of not-so-clean dancing among most of the girls and the boys, while others just stood to the side and talked. His father seemed to be enjoying himself (Rinko and Nanako had gone out to visit a friend and left Nanjiroh home). And then there were the stupid fangirls, chasing rabidly after the Regulars. Ryoma watched sadistically as Tezuka, dressed in a green frog suit handmade by none other than his mom, stood panting besides him. After a glare that plainly said "Laugh and die", Tezuka noticed the swarm of fangirls headed his way and ran hurriedly into another room. Amazing how the fearless captain of the Tennis Regulars turned afraid under the intimidation of...fangirls.

Meanwhile, Momo and Kaidoh were at the refreshment table, stuffing down high levels of sweets and pastries, and Fuji and Kawamura had chosen to gather up their courage to speak to their respective herds of fangirls and firmly (but politely) urge them to leave them alone for now, which somehow, miraculously worked. Eiji and Oishi, it seemed, had taken refuge from their own fangirls by sneaking to the upper floor and were now sitting next to Inui, who, in a robot costume, was looking down on the party and writing data in his infamous notebook. As for himself, Ryoma was quite aware of the fact that he had a fangirl group of his own not too far away from him, but he had ignored them all for the past hour. They were so loud, so obnoxious, and (damn them) annoyingly persistent. Every so often, one had come up and brazenly ask to go out with him. But now, thankfully, they had stopped, leaving him to his thoughts.

Barely audible above the sound of the music, the doorbell rang. Most of the partiers didn't hear the ring, but there were a few faint yells of "Echizen-san, someone is at the door", and Ryoma reluctantly shuffled toward the door, making his way slowly through the crowd. Turning the lock, he opened it with half-curiosity.

There, sopping wet and looking as if she were on the verge of tears, was Sakuno.

* * *

Ryoma and Sakuno stared at each other for a moment before fully comprehending the presence of the other.

"Ry-Ryoma-kun?"

Sakuno felt a sudden, unexpected rush of joy and relief at the sight of him before the humiliation sunk in and she lowered her head in embarrassment, what little she had gathered to calm herself down crumbling against her will.

"May I--May--May..."

Sakuno faded off, her voice leaving her as she choked on the lump in her throat.

Ryoma, alarmed and confused about what to do, stood there, warring with himself, then grabbed Sakuno' s hand pulling her inside the house.

One thing at least was clear: she sure as hell couldn't stay out in the rain. Locking the door behind them, he pulled Sakuno behind him.

"What--What are you doing?" she asked softly, landing with a soft thud against his back.

"You need to take your clothes off."

Everyone within a foot radius swerved their heads around and looked at them incredulously. A couple whistles and catcalls could be heard around them, and Ryoma tried to ignore them. Sakuno blushed violently red, suddenly having a small urge to laugh despite all that she had gone through.

It was still pretty embarrassing.

"Na-na-na-nani?"

Ryoma became acutely aware of the implications of what he had just said. Missing the presence of his cap, he quickly turned away from Sakuno and folded his arms across his chest. "I mean, you're going to get sick if you stay in them."

Sakuno couldn't do anything but nod her head. After all, she _had_ been in the rain for two hours just to try to get here.

Ryoma gestured for her to come with him, and she walked a little way in back of him up the stairs. She could feel the eyes of a lot of people on her and then turned back and kept her eyes on the stairs. When they reached the top landing, Ryoma opened a door to the side and went inside, going over to his closet and rummaging through it. Sakuno followed nervously behind him, entering timidly through the door, suddenly realizing that she was, in fact, stepping through into _the _Echizen Ryoma bedroom.

She blushed at the thought as she came inside and walked over to Ryoma, standing breathlessly beside him.

Unbidden, a loud voice came from down stairs.

"I'M SO PROUD OF YOU, MY BOY! YOU HAVE FINALLY LEARNED AND--"

In a flash, Ryoma recognized the shout as his father's and rushed over to the door, furiously slamming it shut before turning around and seeing a wide-eyed Sakuno.

"Uh..."

"Er..."

"Right..."

The two became particularly interested in the clothes in the closet.

* * *

Word count of the story section: 1770. Woot! I'm getting better.

Til next time,

Tengoku No Tsubomi


	6. The Thing in the Closet Part 1

_-Tsubomi and the well-known, ever-evasive "Non-Reviewer", who wears a black ninja get-up, sit at a Japanese-style table, both kneeling on cushions, each clutching a large, Grande Double Chocolate Chip Starbucks Frappuccino in their hands._

**Tsubomi: **It kinda bothers me...It's just one of those things...I, being the weird, paranoid author I am, check the reviews a thousand times a day and see the same number of reviews...It drives me crazy.

**Non-Reviewer:** ... _-continues drinking their Frappuccino-_

**Tsubomi: **I mean; come on...

**Non-Reviewer:** ...

**Tsubomi: **_-theatrically- _Oh, the woes of the unappreciated _artiste_...

**Non-Reviewer: **_-sets down Frappuccino- _Have you ever heard the phrase "Silence is golden"?

**Tsubomi: **Uh...

_-An awkward silence surrounds the table. After a while, Tsubomi speaks again.-_

**Tsubomi: **I concur.

* * *

Sakuno watched as the next hanger slid across the small, dark, rectangular closet and stopped as it hit a shirt in the back of the closet. She and Ryoma stood just outside of the closet.

_Squeeak._

To be honest, it had been pretty quiet after Ryoma had originally brought her into his room. (That sounded _way _dirtier when she put that into words.)

_Squeeak._

Ryoma's concentration was totally and completely on the closet. She didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed by that.

_Squeeak._

Sakuno decided on happy; it was better than having Ryoma's eyes on her cold, wet, shivering self.

_Squeeak._

That sound was grating on her last nerves. She vaguely wondered why.

_Squeeak._

Maybe it was because it sounded similar to how Ryoma's fangirls always sounded. She never did like those fangirls.

_Sqee-_

Sakuno cracked. Stopping the hanger, she took the hanger from Ryoma's hand and moved it quietly towards the end of the closet.

Another awkward silence (or maybe it was just one all-encompassing silence) settled over them.

"So..."

"Yeah..."

This was bordering on the point of stupidity, Sakuno thought, sighing and shaking off her giddiness.

"Why don't I just grab something for myself?" Sakuno asked Ryoma, who nodded and pointed toward the right end of the closet and mumbled something about his tennis clothes being over there. Sakuno gave him a quick peek before turning back to the closet.

She whipped around again for another glance.

Was that Ryoma turning pink?

It was, if her eyesight wasn't off. She turned back to the closet and a small piece of giddiness shot through her.

"Are you getting it or not?" Ryoma's voice snapped from beside her.

Sakuno jumped and squeezed her way into the almost complete darkness of the inside of the closet. "Y-Yes!"

* * *

A good while of scuffling and scraping later Ryoma heard Sakuno's voice from inside the closet.

"R-Ry-Ryoma-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you own anything sharp and furry?"

Ryoma did a double take. "No...What's happened?"

A moment of silence ensued.

"I have no idea. Something's stopping my hands."

"What does it feel like?"

"Sharp...and furry."

Ryoma slapped his forehead. "Just come out."

Ryoma heard what he thought was a squeak.

"I can't."

"What do you mean 'you can't'?"

"I'm--I'm stuck."

Ryoma remained in shock for a moment.

Another squeak came from the closet.

"Can you help me out please?"

Ryoma stepped inside the closet.

"Where are you?" he asked, feeling around the closet in hopes of finding Sakuno. _She must be near the end of the closet..._

Ryoma walked a couple of steps forward, and, to his suprise, bumped straight into her. Embarrassed, he attended to the jarred sensation in his head and asked if she was alright. Leaning against the wall, Sakuno groaned and nodded her aching head.

The only things that they could hear right now were the sounds of each other's breathing.

Ryoma gulped. Right...the task at hand...What was the task at hand again? He remembered that Sakuno needed to change clothes as she sharted trembling against him, and he realized how cold she actually was as her skin (he gulped again) pressed against his. Focusing what he could of his concentration, he nervously felt around for her hand, hoping that his hand would contact the intended target and not something...else.

Instead, his palm met what Sakuno must have meant by the "furry" thing. It took a couple pats for him to realize that it was...

**

* * *

**

Woot! Another (1/2) chapter finished! However crummy...

Word Count: 575..._-slaps herself and turns into a llama-_ Bad author.

When I looked back at my reviews, I noticed some people in previous chapters wondered if the girl Ryoma is talking about is Sakuno.

**Llama Tsubomi: **_-cackles-_ No, it's Ryoma's secret lover.

_-Everyone is silent. There is a loud 'poof' and a cloud of blue mist as Tsubomi transforms back into a human.-_

I'm kidding, people.

As many authors have said in the path, I am indeed 'evil' for posting a cliffhanger...MUAHAHA...It's all part of my plan to take over the fanfiction universe...

_-The readers shake their heads and mutter darkly to themselves as lightning flashes and thunder booms behind Tsubomi.-_

But seriously. Sorry for the chapter being so short. Darn...and I was on a two chapter-long long chapter streak, too..._-sigh-_

Anyway, back to my homework. Yay. 0-0 Actually, no. I'm probably going to slack off again until the last moment, then panic and rush to get it done. Ah, the joys of high school. I was relying on this weekend to get a lot done, so I'm going to have to cram it all in...

I'll try to add the second part soon! ...It's always hard for me to start off writing a chapter because I just sit down and try to wait for inspiration to come in one go...

Til next time,

Tengoku No Tsubomi

(Hater of Romeo and Juliet Character Analysis Papers and Geometry Projects)


	7. The Thing in the Closet Part 2

**Hello, readers. I don't, at the moment, particularly have my awe-inspiring originality like I usually do.**

**But if any of you out there don't read the author's notes**_ (-Tsubomi eyes tear up-)_ **please read it in this chapter because I have a couple questions to ask you all. (I've put them in bold, so if you really don't feel like reading all of the personal details, just scroll down and read the bold words.)**

Will my amazingly fascinating life experiences suffice? Just nod and smile. Good...

A couple days ago, I checked on (one of the best _free_ places on the internet to read manga--and you don't have to download!), and I saw that Prince of Tennis ended. Curious, I opened the manga file and read the last chapter (but I don't read the manga, so I don't really know what's going on). Disappointingly, I saw in the end Ryoma went to America, but I don't know if he's staying there or just there temporarily. I looked on Google and couldn't find the answer. So sad. If any of you read the manga, tell me please!

**That's Question 1: What happens to Ryoma at the end of Prince of Tennis (in the manga) and does he stay permanently or temporarily in America?**

If none of you know, after I'm done watching the animes/reading the mangas I have deserted and put off reading/watching, I'll just go to the site and read through the entire manga...not something I really want to do because it's _way_ too overloaded with tennis...I'll just comfort my knowledge that there was a picture of Sakuno (you know, kind of like a look to see what the characters of the story are doing at the time the manga ends) in the final chapter.

In other news, I have been reading shojo mangas. In the beginning, I used to be prejudiced against shojo animes because I saw them as illogical and way too idealistic, but the ones I've read are okay realistically (with probably a subtlely huge portion of idealism), and they're kind of...good to read. I like shonen plots and stuff, but sometimes they put in way too much fighting or action and not enough actual in-depth character drama).

**Readers: **Huh?

**Readers in GT English: **Bravo! We applaud your ability to make crap up and sound like a semi-intelligent person who knows about plots.

**Tsubomi: **I don't know whether or not I should be happy or angry.

**Readers: **Pfft. That's beside the point. You read shojo animes?

**Tsubomi: **...Yes...and the mature woman mangas are no fun, so I mean...well...and they're addictive in their own weird way...Gotta problem with that? Don't make me do my Z formation. _-snaps fingers in a weird Z shape.-_

...Which brings me to my next point.

**Question 2: I've been wondering lately...are any of the people reading this story boys? I've recently been thinking my versions of the guys in Trick or Tennis! seem a little too soft and...mature for high school boys.**

Then again, most of the guys in anime are portrayed as mature, so I don't know...Gah! It's like all plot ideas go into this complex, mind-boggling hypnosis circle!

_-Tsubomi gets down on her knees and bows Japanese-style.-_

**All of you boys out there--I need you to tell me because I'm self-conscious of my writing after I read all these Prince of Tennis fanfiction masterpieces...**

Wow, I sound desperate, but just when I think my writing is good, I turn around and find a bunch of amazingly written stories.

_Pity the intimidated author and tell her your views. Read and review, and then go to freerice . com and test your vocabulary skills._

...That third thing had absolutely nothing to do with the first two things I said. It's fun, though, and I've donated 4000 grains of rice...Go and you'll understand what I'm saying.

Keep on keepin' on. Oh yeah. It's Tsubomi turned hippie. (Did I spell that right...or is it spelled 'hippy'? Darn it.)

* * *

A loud purr rumbled through the closet.

To say that Ryoma couldn't believe his _cat_ was the source of all this trouble was an understatement.

Feeling around for Karupin's sides, he attempted to pull him off of Sakuno. Several tries later, the cat was no further off of her than it had been in the first place.

By this time, the closet was getting hot and stuffed, and he was finding it rather hard to ignore the close contact, even though he did every possible thing to do so.

Ryoma let out a growl of frustration. Maybe if they got out of this place, it wouldn't be so bad, but the only possible way he could see for them both getting out was him physically pulling her out, which required him actually touching her.

He eliminated his choices. It wasn't as if he could pull Sakuno out by her braids, and he _definitely_ wasn't using anything below the belt. Her hands were bound by Karupin, so that left out that option. What else, then, was left?

What the hell was he supposed to grab?

He could feel Sakuno trembling against him and her teeth chattering. He had to get her out of her clothes.

Ryoma started to think his father was finally starting to pervert-ize him. Clearing his mind and focusing what determination he had, he reached out.

This was the only way.

* * *

Sakuno felt like she jumped ten feet in the air when Ryoma grabbed her around the waist and started to push his way through the closet, pulling her with him. On her right side, hangers jutted out and poked her arm, but it caused her only a vague feeling of pain. If possible, they were even closer than before, and she could hear the muttered curses spewing from his mouth, and feel his breath...

Letting out a couple muffled squeaks and protests, Sakuno gasped as Ryoma lifted her to her feet and pulled her closer to his chest as he walked toward the closet door and fumbled around, pushing through the hangers as their progress got more difficult. In a moment of awkwardness and need for balance, she nervously wrapped her legs around Ryoma's torso, her grip tightening as the (_gulp_) ride got rougher. All of his normally graceful movements were jerky, and she could tell he was having a hard time stepping forward in the limited space from how tense he was. In short, Ryoma was wobbling (she blushed twenty shades of red) underneath her.

She suddenly realized how wonderfully warm he felt against her cold, clammy skin.

_Wow_, did that sound like something she'd find in a cheesy romance novel, but it was true nonetheless.

Deciding that she couldn't do anything (nope, nothing), Sakuno slowly relaxed into Ryoma. Hearing him shiver and feeling goosebumps form on his skin, she quickly realized that now he was cold, too.

"Thanks, Ryuuzaki. Now _my_ clothes are wet."

Sakuno was going to make a remark, before--

_Waaanyeer._

She glanced down at her stomach, then registered the fact that if she didn't lessen the pressure she was putting against Ryoma's chest, the something (cat, she assumed) was going to be a cold kitty pancake. Reluctantly loosening her hold on Ryoma, Sakuno was about to get off of him when she felt his arms circle tighter around her.

Not knowing if she was shaking from how cold she still was or how anxious she was becoming, Sakuno tried to look around in the dark for Ryoma's face.

"Relax, we're almost there."

Sakuno looked incredulously in the general area of where she guessed Ryoma's voice came from, taking loud nervous breaths.

"What _--huh-- _do you mean, relax? You're not the one being _--huh_-- lifted up into the air!

"Yeah, but I'm carrying you, and you're heavy."

"Hah! Well, you're probably heavier than I am!"

"I'm a boy. It's _supposed_ to be that way."

Sakuno huffed. She guessed that was what all of those books she had read referred to as a "moment ruiner". Then again, she wasn't really _that_ mad. It was more of the fact that she had been _outsmarted_ by him than actually being offended, since his voice sounded like his tone was...joking?

Sakuno wondered if she had hit her head on one of the closet walls and ended up in an alternate universe.

"You're joking."

"No, stupid, boys really _are_ supposed to be heavier than girls."

Sakuno scowled.

"No, I mean _you--" _(she stressed the word)-- "as in you, Echizen Ryoma...are joking."

"No, I'm not. You're seriously heavy."

Sakuno began doubting if she had even heard this "joking" tone in the first place. Still, she was (though she wouldn't ever admit it) kind of enjoying herself, so she decided to continue talking.

Considering that she had thought this whole day had turned into a nightmare, she was actually beginning...to like it.

Short chapter. Sorry, guys.


	8. The Master of the Closet

Sorry for the wait everyone...

Anyway, I drew a piece of fanart with Ryoma and Sakuno from this story. Yeah, it took a long time. And yes, it's not the best. Still, I feel a minute sense of pride in having drawn an okay work in which you can actually distinguish who's who. Even if it has a couple flaws...

I'm thinking of maybe coloring it (or maybe not, judging how bad I am with shading and Microsoft Paint), and it will probably appear on my piczo, www. --animania. piczo. com. (It is still in the works, both the picture and the site. My co-founder, which is Shinrin on this site, is also working on her site, too, because we just started working on them.)That's only if I can find out how to get my stupid scanner to work and put it on the Paint document thing. Grr.

I'll have to darken up the lines to get it so that the scanner will actually pick up the lines, though. Double Grr.

_-Tsubomiholds a huge HP printer/scanner in her hands and rattles it.-_

**Tsubomi:**Why, Rin-rin? How could you betray me? After all we've been through together?

_-The printer remains silent. Tsubomi bursts out into tears.-_

**Tsubomi: **Curse you, Rin-rin! CURSE YOOOOU!

_Yes, I've developed a tendency to name things really weird stuff. I call my friend's backpack 'Mochi' from "**Mochi**la", which is Spanish for "backpack". I call my own 'Aka' which is kind of from 'b**ack**pack'. 'Aka' is Japanese for 'red' even though my backpack is blue. Oh, and if you didn't get it, "Rin-rin" comes from "p**rin**ter"._

Story time!

* * *

"Ouch! Ryoma-kun!"

"What?"

"Stop it! You're doing it too hard!"

"This-- would be-- a whole-- lot-- easier-- if you stopped moving. Hold. Still!"

"How can I? It's not-- exactly _easy--_ when you're doing _thaAAaat._ Ow..."

"Deal with it."

The sound of shuffling and struggling filtered through the door. Eiji stood, his ear pressed to the wood, face aghast.

"I don't think it's working."

"You're too loud. Just wait a while."

Eiji gulped and ran.

"_Oishiiiiii_!"

A little while later, Eiji stood panting next to the rest of the Regulars, who had evacuated upstairs from their fangirls.

Oishi watched in shock. "What's wrong?"

Eiji sniffled, putting on his 'traumatized child' face.

"O-chibi's getting it on."

A collective pause came over the group. Then...

"NANI?!"

* * *

A pink-faced Ryoma let out a deep breath and exasperatedly laid down on his bed, on which he had been pulling Karupin off on, finally holding Karupin in his hands, who was meowing discontentedly and looking very disgruntled.

"Don't look at me like that."

Sakuno started. "Hmm?"

"Not you, I was talking to my cat."

"Oh."

Gasping for breath, Sakuno let go of Ryoma's headboard of his bed that she had used as leverage to try to remove Karupin (she had held onto the headboard while he had sat next to her and yanked the cat off of her). She looked down at her costume, which now sported noticeable punctures and scratchmarks, and started rolling around her wrists in an attempt to get the circulation flowing again.

Oh, and there was also the part where she knew she was probably bright red from where Ryoma's hands had been and the general outcome (or rather, demise) of a portion of her costume.

Ryoma took his pillow and arranged himself on the bed. Whatever, he was tired. To hell with the stupid party; after all he had gone through, he was going to sleep. He closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Karupin and turning away from Sakuno.

"Ryoma-kun?"

"What..."

"Ano...Arigato?"

"You make it sound like a question."

Sakuno blinked.

"What am I supposed to say after something like this?"

"A statement."

She would have frowned if she had the energy.

Ryoma let out a yawn and rolled over, giving Sakuno a quick glance.

He quickly turned away again; he definitely wasn't going to stare at her when she was like that. Her costume was still wet, for crying out loud, and the scratches, Kami-sama.

"You should change now."

Sakuno gazed at him witheringly.

"Into what?"

Ryoma grumbled to himself, not wanting to leave the pleasant semi-warmth of his bed.

"I don't know. I'm tired. Pick something out." He made a half-hearted wave in the direction of his closet.

"I'm tired out, too. Excuse me if I don't know the content of your closet," Sakuno muttered, crossing her arms as Ryoma lifted up the covers of his bed and slipped under them. She was quiet as his breathing evened out.

Was Ryoma really that tired?

She leaned a little toward Ryoma. She jumped as he opened his eyes and looked at her incredulously.

"What are you doing?" he asked, quickly sitting up.

"N-nothing."

"Get dressed then, already."

As weird as the situation was, Sakuno really didn't feel like leaving Ryoma. With a small pang of sadness, she guessed he didn't want her there. Trying to shrug it off, she got off of the bed and walked over to the closet, grabbing a shirt at random and going toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Ryoma asked, repositioning himself.

"Changing, stupid."

Sakuno applauded herself. She was gaining more confidence around him.

"Che. You're going to walk around without pants? And that shirt's way too big. STUPID."

Sakuno flushed. The confidence began deflating like a balloon.

"What's stupid is you being too lazy to help me!"

"What's stupid is me having to help you get dressed."

Sakuno silently conceded the point, but it wasn't as if she was going to give up now. Gathering her confidence again, she racked around her mind for a response.

And failed miserably.

"What's stupid is...is...is...YOU."

"Ah, that was clever."

Sakuno 'hmph'ed.

"Oh Master of the Closet, what garments then shalt I wear?"

Ryoma smirked, got out of the covers, and slid to the edge of his bed. Hell yes, this was worth it.

"Address me as master--" if he wasn't imagining it, Sakuno was glaring at him. --"And only then shalt I help you. Now bow beforeth me."

Sakuno snorted. Ryoma stifled a laugh.

Sakuno considered fighting it, but this _was_the logical choice, wasn't it? Getting on her knees at Ryoma's feet (part of her really felt like cursing him right then), began to bow.

"Master..."

--WHAM--

* * *

With a loud bang, the bedroom door swung open. For a moment the two looked in bewilderment at a dogpile of uneasy senpais. A bright flash of a camera lit up the room and Fuji smiled at the increasingly angry Ryoma and Sakuno.

There was a loud outburst of "Eiji-senpai, why did you lean so heavily on the door?", an equally loud yell of "It was Kaidoh's fault!", and a "We would've been here longer if Momoshiro hadn't bumped into me!". Meanwhile, Fuji winked, tipping his camera from side to side.

"Did we interrupt something?"

Ryoma and Sakuno froze.

"Senpai-tachi..."

"What the hell..."

Momoshiro and most of the Regulars (excluding Fuji, still smiling, Tezuka, who somehow maintained his poker face, and Inui, who was fiercely scribbling 'data' into his notebook), nervously putting their hands up in front of them.

"Now now, Echizen, don't be hasty..."

A loud scuffle filled the room. Sakuno watched. For a moment, she debated holding back Ryoma, but then she decided that they deserved what they had coming.

"So...what _did_ happen, Echizen?"

"NOTHING HAPPENED! GET OUT OF MY ROOM YOU BASTARDS!"

Sakuno sighed slightly to herself. Nothing _did _happen after all...She told herself not to let what Ryoma said get to her, but it did, just a little.

Moments later, the air was filled with the sound of whizzing tennis balls (heck, there was a suprisingly large amount in there, and even a couple tennis rackets).

Sakuno picked up a ball as it rolled toward her among the cries of "Stop, Echizen, Stop!", "Mommy!", and "AAARGH, help us all!". Recognizing it as the ball she had given Ryoma almost four years ago, she gave a faint smile.

Nothing might have happened, but he had always kept a little piece of her with him.

Sakuno grinned happily...

...and then proceeded to slap herself mentally for how nonsensical and pointlessly mushy that sounded...

...but still...still...that somehow made her extremely happy.

* * *

Yes, there's more to come. Read and rate as always!

Word Count: 983...(I tried my best, minna-san. TT.TT)

I love innuendos. I guess that's still T, isn't it? I think teenagers can handle this sort of stuff...

Become Dork Regulars (go to my piczo)! My piczo's kind of messed up at the moment, but we'd like company!


	9. Contemplation

Sorry for the wait! School's been a nightmare. Still is. As I speak (or type, actually), I have a stupid geometry packet on the sine-cosine-tangent demonic trinity, an "Organic Writing" research paper from hell due the day after tomorrow in English class, a really stupid Biology lab, and all this freakin' pressure on top of that to get good grades when I am just another stupid, lazy high school student who wants a good future but doesn't really feel like working hard for it.

Point is: I've been swamped. Seriously. There are lily pads floating at nose level.

Anyway...Onward! I'm trying to make my author's notes next to the point of where they don't exist anymore because they're misleading readers in the number of words. Still, more comes out then I mean to.

...Yup yup. That's all for now.

P.S. I know I have a bountiful harvest of grammatical errors sewn into my story, but I'm going to correct them all after I finish my story and after I take a long break from writing said fanfiction. After I start and finish Osuwari no Owari, I think I'll just do one/two-shots. It's hard making details fit together as it is.

* * *

Ryoma was fuming.

Just what was he? The Regulars' personal entertainment service? He already put up with enough crap from his senpais during practices, and now this. For God's sake--

Ryoma felt around for another tennis ball on his bedside table, only to realize that they had already been pelted at his teammates, who had quickly learned that a room filled with a seething tennis prodigy spelled doom for anyone within a 10-foot radius. Sprinting away with their tennis-honed speed (which didn't seem quite fast enough), they had, with countless yelps and cries of pain, fled from the vicinity.

Now, waiting for the inevitable moans of disapproval, Ryoma forced himself to turn toward Sakuno, who had been disturbingly quiet all the while. Doing an about-face, he found Sakuno sitting on his bed, dangling her feet and swinging them back and forth, looking at him questioningly as he shot her a quizzical look.

Where were the yells? The groans? The "Ryoma-kun. you shouldn't have done that!" or even the ever-classic female sigh that was universally used on the male species to represent their silent yet total frustration/anger/annoyance?

No, instead, he got a "quizzical look".

Was she play-acting? Couldn't be; she couldn't act for her life, not with her history of obviously overdramatized, almost painfully presented skits that teachers occasionally assigned. Even with her next-to-nothing skill in the art of theater, she just couldn't hide her emotions well, even if she wanted to.

Ryoma waited. Just waited. He remained silent, not knowing what to say, wanting to break the silence but not wanting to at the same time. So he did the one coping mechanism he had done since before he could remember: he sat down on the edge of his bed and tried to ignore what was going on.

Sakuno frowned at Ryoma, shifting awkwardly on the bed and stopping the movement of her feet as he occasionally turned his head to look at her. Why did he keep giving her that guilty look? She kept eye contact for a few seconds before losing her nerve and settling her gaze on a safer target, the countless tennis balls at Ryoma's feet.

The silence was thick. She would have been lying if she said she hadn't partly enjoyed the time before this point, but now what? What could she say? What was she supposed to say? A "What are you looking at?" didn't exactly seem appropriate, and what was more was that she still had to get some dry clothes, dang it, and therefore deal with Ryoma even more tonight. Not like she really minded, but...

She sighed, knowing that she was leaving a huge wet spot from her costume on the bed.

She thought for a moment and racked her mind for inspiration.

What did all the girls in shojo manga or novels do?

Of course, if they were strong or confident, they would immediately pipe some snarky, sarcastic, or just plain bold comment and there would be a round of laughter, a loving glance, or some form of an ice-breaker, and the couple would continue through an event with laughs and giggles. If it were the ultra-shy, cutesy cute shy girl, she would be so awkwardly twitchy, yet the guy would think her so beautiful at that moment that he'd make a romantic statement that would leave the girl bubble with love. Perhaps a series of accidents would happen and the couple would end up in a not-so-unwanted embrace/kiss/display of affection.

She didn't think of herself as the former or latter type, really. What sort of magical trick would _she_ pull out of her bag of feminine wiles to work on Ryoma?

Sakuno would've laughed at herself if the situation wasn't so serious.

When it boiled down to it, the situation didn't seem serious at all from an outside perspective: she was just an ordinary girl talking to an ordinary--(she corrected herself)--not-so-ordinary boy. So they were sitting on his bed in his bedroom. Implications aside, there was basically nothing behind it. But there was always something about Ryoma...she never knew what to say or do; he made her so happy just by being close to her, yet she was nervous about his reaction to her. So why couldn't she just say a simple sentence without completely overanalyzing every little thing that happened?

A distinctly male mutter of "Mada Mada Dane" sounded next to her, dispersing her thoughts.

For goodness sake, she could _hear_ a small smirk in his voice. And what was up with Ryoma saying his game phrase at a time like this? It was totally irrelevant, still slightly awkward, and...

She wasn't complaining. Anything for a conversation.

"D-Deuce," she stuttered, thinking quickly, chancing a glance at Ryoma.

Ryoma's expression was unreadable as he replied to what she had said.

"Not deuce, Ryuuzaki. I always get that match point," he remarked proudly, catching her eye, his own flashing arrogantly.

Sakuno 'hmph'ed and frowned, again stumbling on her words. Maybe this time she would be satisfied with just 'bubbling with love', or maybe, in her mind, that was Ryoma's "romantic statement" to her. She allowed herself a smile as Ryoma's infamous smirk slowly but surely grew on his face. Yes, she would be satisfied.

"Ryuuzaki, want to play?" he asked as he walked over to his closet and got some sports clothes to change into.

Sakuno felt the awkward atmosphere finally dissipate and nodded, once again giddily. "Yes! One thing though--"

It was Ryoma's turn to frown. "What is it?"

Sakuno took a deep breath, her words coming out louder than she had intended out of impatience. "May I please just have some pants? I need to change! I'm wet and now it's all over your bed! Please?" Sakuno blushed.

Needless to say, Ryoma's face now sported a stunned look as he tossed her some pants to go along with the shirt of his tennis uniform that she had gotten before.

* * *

Wow, I am Fluffiluffigus. Innuendo strikes again! I wonder if all your innocent minds got it? Then again, most people think I'm innocent yet I still spout innuendo. Oh yes, more to come, because I just am a Ryosaku fan who requires at least a little action (insert eye waggle here) in my own fanfiction. Not like heavy, heavy stuff! Just well...T-safe stuff.

That chapter was completely...um, I won't say anything. Aside from that, I'll just use the 'I like keeping things short and sweet' excuse.

Word Count: N/A because my dad had to reload everything on my computer (Boy, am I glad I use an almost blank document on the computer and just type my chapters on the document manager).

I really do try really hard not to make the events seem too fantastical, but it's really difficult for me not to do this, especially when I want to have the story flow without putting in much effort (Yes, I know since I am an 'artiste' I should invest my willpower in my story, but right now I really don't have the heart). Mind you, Ryoma and Sakuno seem OOC to me, but I wanted to portray the more mature, quietly confident Sakuno (who is just a normal girl) from the manga and wanted Ryoma's personality to emphasize that of a normal teenage boy, not a stone-cold misogynist in exception to Sakuno. I don't know...Perhaps I made him too friendly...

I know, I know. Excuses, Excuses. And the author's notes were supposed to be short.

**Readers:** (in nun uniforms) _-slap Tsubomi's wrists-_

**Tsubomi:** _-yelp-_

RAAAAWR (Yes, I am in bad mood. Darn School.),

Tengoku no Tsubomi


	10. Sweet Time

Sakuno picked at the loose fabric of the new clothes that Ryoma had provided. It wasn't really width-wise that bothered her; Ryoma wasn't that much wider built than she was. His shoulders were only a little broader. It was more...Well, she never doubted how much taller Ryoma had grown than her in the past few years, but she was wading in the shirt he had given her and his "shorts" were down to her knees... Then there was the fact that his feet were bigger than hers and hence it was, quite literally, a little uncomfortable walking in his shoes...

Sakuno shook her head. No matter. She was going to be with Ryoma and she could bear with a little discomfort. She probably wouldn't even feel it that much after she walked around a little bit. After adjusting her new clothes a bit, she put her wet costume into the washing machine and hauled herself up onto the drier, waiting for Ryoma to gather all the tennis equipment. As he came into the laundry room carrying two rackets and his sports bag, she slid down and eyed him a little suspiciously.

"Are you sure it's alright to just leave here?" she asked, grabbing a racket nonetheless. "This is _your _party, after all. And what if everyone destroys your house or something?"

Ryoma winced a little but kept walking toward the door. "My dad's here; he should keep everything in order." _Which he doubted, but... _"You could stay here if you like. I'd rather play tennis any day."

Sakuno hesitated a moment before walking beside him. "I already changed," she rationalized, even though she turned a little pink. "Plus, I never really was the life of the party," she added, laughing a bit.

Ryoma rolled his eyes as they went outside. "Mada Mada Dane."

Sakuno 'hmph'ed, turning even pinker. "You're not exactly a party animal either, Ryoma-kun."

With that, they started toward the inside tennis courts.

* * *

_Thud._

Sakuno collapsed onto the bench, exhausted. Beside her, Ryoma was panting as well. Tired but happy, Sakuno shakily began to recover.

"Ryoma-kun, can you teach me some of those moves sometime? Those were amazing!" She smiled. The match was long and intense, but Ryoma was on a whole different level than her. Still, even though she was beaten, it was one of the most enjoyable games she had ever played, and she could try to become great like Ryoma, couldn't she?

Ryoma quirked an eyebrow. "Just like the old days, huh?" He considered it for a moment. "Your hair's too long, but at least your form's better."

Sakuno flushed, frowning as he grinned. He started picking up the equipment to turn his attention away.

Finally he muttered a decisive "Whatever."

Sakuno blinked, a little flustered. "Is that a yes?"

When all that came back was another "Whatever", she huffed and went over to him.

"Sure." Ryoma allowed his grin to widen as she walked toward him and knelt beside him to help him pick up the equipment. She met his eyes for a second in which some sort of energy flowed between them before she focused herself.

"'Whatever' says almost nothing. Is that a no? Or is that a yes?" she repeated, turning toward him, her voice, despite her will, becoming almost a whisper in his ear.

Ryoma was absolutely silent for a moment, his breath hushed but gave a quick nod. "Yeah." He made quicker work of picking things up.

Sakuno beamed. For the moment, she was almost unaware of everything except her and Ryoma in her happiness, which was almost...ethereal, even though she kept reminding herself that it was just tennis tutoring. Only one word could describe how she felt at that moment. _Overjoyed_.

Her stomach rumbled. Ryoma stifled a laugh from next to her as she blushed.

Correction. Make that two words. _Overjoyed_ and _HUNGRY_!

* * *

Ryoma escorted Sakuno back to his house (although he nervously noted that she was somewhat yearning as they past the restaurants on the way to his house), but he didn't bring cash with him and therefore couldn't pay. The brief on-and-off conversations they had were cut short by a new onslaught of rain, which did nothing to improve his anxious mood, and, when they did return to his house, he, with none too much happiness, saw that the party was still in full throttle.

Sakuno, almost immediately, ran to the food table. Amused by her desperate dash, he followed her (hey, he didn't have much else to do, did he?). To his amazement and shock, she quickly grabbed a plastic plate and loaded it entirely with cookies--frosted, chocolate chip, double double chocolate, white chocolate--an assorted mixture of cookies. Ryoma had to give some credit to his mom and cousin; he didn't know that they had put out this much food for the party.

As she turned around, he grabbed a frosted cookie off her plate. It was not only delicious, but highly convenient and entertaining, all in one. He relished her indignant expression as he bit into the cookie.

"Ryoma," Sakuno hissed angrily. "Ryoma..." The expression on her face was pure, unadulterated fury.

If he noticed this anger, Ryoma didn't let out any signs that he had this knowledge. Instead, he said rather mockingly, "Sakuno...Sakuno..." He held the cookie tauntingly between his teeth.

By this point, Sakuno knew she was being angry for the sake of being angry at him. But the cookie...that was the last one left. She needed to take action.

"Ryoma, give it back! Or at least give me a piece!" she pleaded, standing on tiptoes but failing to reach her goal as Ryoma cleverly ducked,dipped, dived, and dodged all her attempts for Operation: Cookie Rescue. "It's the last one! Those are my favorite!"

"Hey, Ryuzaki, where's the _-kun_? Shame on you being so impolite," he 'tsk'ed at her, but was unable to eat, as he was too busy avoiding her grabs for the cookie and possible blows. "Plus, I like them, too. My party, my rules." He smirked as Sakuno stopped for a moment, panting to gain her breath.

"Oh, excuse me, Ryoma-sama," Sakuno said rather sarcastically, although she did (blushingly) realize what context the -sama could be taken to.

In an unexpected move, she had moved quickly toward Ryoma and grabbed for the cookie, surprising him so much that he almost had no time to react.

Luckily for Ryoma (and unluckily for Sakuno), he had rapid reflexes. Pinning her arms to her sides (earning himself what seemed like a snarl from Sakuno), he succeeded in keeping her, for the most part, still.

"So immature," she muttered.

Ryoma would have added something sarcastic if the crowd hadn't bumped him at the wrong place at the wrong time. This sent him, not entirely unwillingly but not very pleasantly into an equally effected Sakuno. The cookie seemed to fall in slow motion to the ground.

Sakuno soon realized that bumping heads (even with someone...like Ryoma) and having them land none too gently on top of you was not as romantic as most fiction works would portray them to be. As they both held their heads, they were unable to move for several seconds until the pain faded away. When a small mob gathered around them, they ignored their pain for a moment and hurriedly jumped away from each other. After several rounds of apologies, they remained awkwardly quiet as the rest of the crowd, to Ryoma's rage and Sakuno's embarrassment, cat-called, whistled, etc.

Nanjiroh, still dressed in his monk costume, butted his way through the crowd with a suggestive gleam in his eye. Ryoma looked on his father with nothing less than disdain for a few seconds, but Nanjiroh yawned as if this didn't effect him at all. "Alright, kids. Party's over. Go home. Bye-bye."

Reluctant murmurs and chatter spread throughout the crowd, but they slowly shuffled their way out of the door. Still a deep color of mauve, Sakuno stayed behind so that she didn't have to deal with any people. Even if Tomoka had seen the incident and been there, she really wasn't in the mood. She turned toward Ryoma's father to thank him briefly before making a quick escape. "That was very kind of you, Echizen-san. I'll be on my way, I guess." It came out as ashamed even though she tried for it not to.

"Nonsense," sighed Nanjiroh. "Isn't the old ha--I mean, your grandmother out of town?"

Sakuno nodded, although she thought she knew where this was going, and at the moment did not feel inclined to stay here.

"She's an old, old friend of mine. I can take care of you here. Besides, she probably wouldn't want you living alone for all the time she's gone." Nanjiroh clapped his hands as if the problem was solved.

Sakuno nervously fidgeted under his gaze. His logic made sense, despite her warring feelings, whch she didn't particularly want to reveal.

But exactly what was she getting herself into?

* * *

There's a little chaplet for you. Yes, my own new term for a snippet chapter. Haha, Tsubomi, you're so intelligent.

Wowzers, did I take my sweet time updating...Haha pun. I kind of do my story unplanned, so it has a really random "vibe". I'll just call it that. Tried to create my own cultural references to Japanese-ness...Don't know if I succeeded (the whole -kun and -sama thing). Oh, and yes, frosted cookies are sooooo worth stealing. They are gooooood. Even if someone bit part of it, I'd take the part they didn't bite. NOOO...cookie, why did you drop? Also, crowds are super-powerful. A good bump sends me at least about two feet from where I began.

Although I am slowly learning tennis, I have next to no experience on the courts and hence I cannot provide an 'OMG!'-worthy match/court scene. Yay for lack of athletic merit!

Educational News:

I finished my summer project for English (reading Lord of the Flies and marking ten passages which are most important to me). I also have a job playing in a church orchestra for 60 dollars a month (ca-ching). Aside from that, I'm taking Summer School classes so that I don't have to take Health and Speech during the school year. They last from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and then I have orchestra rehearsals from 7-9 every day this week.

Right now, my mind is kind of hazed over. My mind is always a little hazed over. I'm trying to keep it going!


	11. STFU

Alright, who's up for some long-awaited story time?

Really, really, long-awaited story time...

Some of the more diligent may have been replaying this scene in your minds:

_-Readers strap up Tsubomi to giant Wheel O' Fortune. A few spins later, a not-so-fine Tsubomi appears rather ill.-_

**Tsubomi:**BLaaaaAarGh... _-swirly eyes-_

I know I write really short chapters...and the characters are way OOC. I'm really sorry for my lack of great writer innovation.

* * *

Sakuno took a long, deep breath. After a long, awkward dinner with Ryoma and his father, she didn't know if she could do this. She summoned her wits about her once again.

She had been waiting to do this for a long time. She shouldn't be afraid. Ryoma's father had said to make herself at home, and this is what she did at home, wasn't it? She took a step closer, taking a peek around. Seeing that the coast was clear, she made a dash for her target, which seemed to glow with an ethereal aura. Checking around once again, she sat on the bench across from it, allowing herself a satisfied smile.

Oh yes. She had been waiting what seemed like forever to do this. Finally, it was within her reach...

In a few strides, she reached the downstairs computer and turned it on. With a few clicks, Sakuno arrived at the official site of the S.T.F.U. (acronym for Seigaku Tennis Fangirls United).

When she had first been introduced to the site by Tomoko, it had been a meager webpage with a few pictures. With the combined efforts of the S.T.F.U., they had made it into a technological haven, with a chic look, a fan base, and even a fanfiction archive. Because the S.T.F.U. was a fangirl unit that emphasized quiet admiration from afar, the fanfiction archive was hugely popular among its members. Although she was astonished at first, Sakuno found sort of a guilty pleasure in writing fanfiction, and even though she had little private time to devote to her writing, her works were praised among the ranks of the fiction.

Here she was Koneko-chan, her online codename. All hail. Sakuno grinned to herself.

She _knew_ the process well, and she had her ideas for her chapter. Although she wasn't used to this type of writing at all, but she couldn't resist a challenge that had been a wanted experiment among many of the S.T.F.U. And hence, she was writing...

A yaoi fic. Her face burned. All it seemed she really had to do was substitute male for the female that she normally wrote. It still seemed like quite a difference. She usually did self-insertion. This was quite off the beaten path.

She gulped, glancing around once again. No need to worry. Ryoma and his dad were both in bed. It was midnight and there was no reason they wouldn't be. After this, she'd just delete all the history files.

_Here goes nothing..._

Her fingers began to move in a blur, forming her ideas into a romantic comedy fiction.

* * *

The first thing that had woken Ryoma up was the light. The infernal light that spread through the gap of his door like...like...well, at the moment he wasn't really in the mood for similes. He pulled open the door and peered toward the direction of the light, opening his mouth to curse whoever had brought forth the light.

He stopped in shock as he saw the dim outline of braided hair and heard the fierce clicking of keys. _R-Ryuuzaki? _He wondered what she was doing on the computer at this time. Watching her for a while, he noticed that the slightest creak would send her into a flurry of checking to see if anyone was around, in which he would quickly and quietly crouch to the ground. What _was _she doing?

Ryoma crept stealthily toward her, careful not to make a sound. He watched as, with a final flourish, she pressed some button on the page, then went to another page, looking appraisingly at it.

_One step_, _two step_. _Hide_. The pattern continued until he got near enough to read the title of the webpage:

**RyoFuji--Cats and SwallowsYaoiRomance**by _Koneko-chan._

What the hell?

In utter confusion, he stepped back rather noisily. Upon discovering she wasn't alone, Sakuno, reflexively pressing the x in the right hand corner of the screen, was flustered into letting out a series of incomprehensible, but nonetheless loud shrieks. But Ryoma could tell that there was worse to come.

If he knew anything about people's responses, it was when they knew that their territory had been infringed upon. There was both a wild fury in her eyes along with that nearly matched the horror that was pouring off of her. She had the look of a trapped dog about her.

His name came out more like an angry hiss than anything else. "_Ryooooma..."_

Amazing how even his own name enstilled a deep sense of terror when she spoke it like that. In the back of his mind, he remembered an old American saying.

_"Hell hath no fury..."_

* * *

A million thoughts crowded into Sakuno's head at the same time_._

First and foremost, the expected_ "**CRAP!!"**,_accompanied by a rush of curses against herself and her stupidity, with a smattering of Ryoma curses as back-ups. And last but certainly not least was the conundrum of_ "what the heck am I going to say?!"_ that threw her sense of security out of the window and into a deep, deep ocean of ill-tidings.

"Well", "um", and "uh" seemed like the only words she was capable of saying besides the growls she was repressing. She tried to gather her thoughts into at least a half-organized mess. "So, you see..."

Ryoma's only response back was a scared "E-eh?".

The loud wrenching of a door from downstairs quieted both her and the now stuttering Ryoma. The exasperated yell of Nanjiroh sounded from below. "Ryoma, you noisy idiot, keep the noise down to a minimum, wouldya?" The sound of footsteps came as Nanjiroh shuffled slowly up the stairs.

Ryoma froze. He was between a rock and a hard place. Sakuno or his dad? If Nanjiroh found him out of bed, he prepared a list of chores for him to do. Long, torturous chores that would take all day and leave him exhausted and with no free time. But then there was Sakuno...he chanced a look at her, then let out a relieved sigh as he saw that her face reflected the same anxiety of getting caught.

The footsteps were getting nearer. Ryoma watched as Sakuno's face grew more and more worried.

Ryoma knew the drill. Mouthing "not a word", he quickly pressed the off buttons of the computer and pushed Sakuno under the computer desk, cramming himself alongside her. There was no time for embarrassment. They both held their breaths as Nanjiroh came into the room, mumbled something about "Ryoma" and "stupid tennis computer games" before he thudded slowly back downstairs.

Ryoma thanked his lucky stars that his father was near incoherent after his sleep was disturbed. He turned back to Sakuno, who although still angry, was significantly calmed down, but as soon as the calmness came, it was replaced by a pink blush that started spreading across her cheeks.

Ryoma turned quickly away from her. "So you're the infamous Koneko-chan, eh? I remember hearing a whole bunch of girls talk about you at a lot of the tennis matches."

Sakuno turned redder. So he'd seen. No way to avoid it. She slowly nodded.

"And you're writing _yaoi_? Never would have expected that from you," He laughed and she felt even more humiliated.

Sakuno turned a lovely shade of magenta, but she vowed to have at least a little dignity. "Hmmph. Th-There are rumors among girls, y-you know."

To her surprise, Ryoma became as indignant as she'd ever seen him. "I'm straight. I like girls. _Girls_, you hear me?"

A little relieved to see that _he_ was now the one who was embarrassed, she felt a little eager to egg _him_ on. "You've turned away most of the girls that have come your way." In her chest, she felt her heartbeat accelerate from their conversation and their closeness, trying and failing to rein in the soaring feeling. "And everyone says that words are just words." She kept repeating this, trying to convince herself and hoping that she might see the logicality.

"Y-Y-You..."

Looking back, Ryoma didn't know why he did it. Part of it was anger, part trying to uphold his pride, and something...something he couldn't really explain. In the confined space, he lowered his head slightly, relishing the unbelievably shocked expression on her face,how flushed her face was, how her eyes trained on his every move. He played off his instincts, wrapping an arm slowly around Sakuno's waist, grinning as she gasped loudly. Then, pushing himself, he closed in the gap and pressed his mouth against hers. A warmth like he'd never known spread through him. Forgetting himself, he gripped her even tighter and worked his lips faster, satisfied by the low, throaty sound she made.

Then he remembered himself and pulled away. He kept his breathing slow as he smirked at the still-panting Sakuno, then whispered snarkily, "Proof enough?"

"S-s-so," Sakuno breathed heavily, building up her courage even though she could hardly speak a word without shaking. She had to know. Had to. "Does-does that mean...you...like--" she gathered all her bravery into the final word "--me?"

Ryoma looked over her quickly, and Sakuno noticed for the first time that he was pink, too. There was a mutter, soft but clear. "Maybe." He still gripped her in his arms.

A surge of joy. Sakuno laughed shakily. "Ryoma, you need to work on more definite answers."

* * *

School's a nightmare. Freakin' AP classes. I know for a fact I failed this one English essay, and I forgot to do the back of a worksheet to this one Chemistry thing...Grr...I also suck at speaking Spanish, and I'm surrounded by fluent Spanish speakers in my class, so that makes me feel like even more of an idiot than I already do. The light of my school days is my Japanese class, which is actually a blast, although half the class is in there unwillingly and the other is freakish-omigosh-otaku-fwahaha-boing-boing-boing people.

My so-called 'friends' aren't really my friends. I feel more of a connection with my readers because of our common interests than I do with them. I'd give my 'friends' a chance if they give me a chance, but they all orbit around someone else, and I was never a person that was good with people. I tried. Seriously. I was going through this really weird emo-ish period for a while, then tried to look on the bright side, but it is really hard for me.

Yup, yup. Comments on story? My intriguing personal life? I'd really actually like to communicate with you.

This was the ever-dreaded kissing chapter (since I have no idea at all how to write a decent kissing scene...or how to lead up to one). Story wise, I think that I'll be ending it next chapter--an epilogue! I hope you enjoy my story.

I probably won't ever correct the grammar mistakes in here because I just kind of glance without reading my writing. As a grammar freak, I understand your agony, but this first fiction of mine has been something I've wallowed through with a lot of struggling.

Maybe someday...

Over the rainbow..bluebirds fly...and I forgot the rest of the song...


	12. Eternally

It had all taken place one day in Ryoma's bedroom when Sakuno had come over to Ryoma's house.

"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno called. "Come over here. I want you to check something." Keeping her voice even was hard. Although she'd be reluctant to admit it, seeing Ryoma's flustered face was one of the most exhilarating things she had ever known (probably stemming from the fact that he flustered her way too many times to count). Ryoma grumbled and Sakuno tugged on his arm slightly, relishing the little bit of contact. "Ryoma, pleeeease?"

Ryoma's eyes narrowed. Something was up if she was using this. Nonetheless, he shuffled from his former position bed to the desk bench over to Sakuno's location at his computer. Sakuno patted on a place next to her on the bench and he plopped down next to her, intently looking over the contents of the page. "It is!" Ryoma tore his eyes away from the screen hastily, turning toward Sakuno with an incredulous look on his face. He couldn't believe she was asking him to check this (again!). "Why are you still writing this? You're dating me, for God's sake! Shouldn't you at least be a little...--"

"Jealous?" Sakuno giggled as he frowned deeply. "I know we agreed that this is my last story, but what you saw at the party was only one of the first chapters. What kind of author would I be to leave all my diligent readers hanging?"

A vein throbbed in Ryoma's temple. He could feel himself turning pinker and pinker by the second. "This is no laughing matter!" Despite this, Sakuno started laughing even harder. "It isn't!"

"But I just wanted to make sure it was realistic!" Sakuno said after wiping away the tears of laughter.

"How exactly is it realistic? Theres no way EVER that I'd kiss Fuji!" An involuntary shudder passed through Ryoma at the very idea.

"Not like that." Sakuno muttered, blushing and wrapping one of her arms around herself.

"Then what exactly do you mean?" Ryoma curled his hand into a fist.

Sakuno's eyes narrowed and she arranged herself into a scholarly position, clearing her throat before she spoke. "It's hard for me to right affectionate scenes."

Ryoma's eyebrows rose. "That's a good thing! Very, very, very good!"

Sakuno 'hmph'ed, giving Ryoma the cold shoulder, and stared at the contents of her partially-completed last chapter. Ryoma sighed and rumpled his hair, exasperated. "Fine then. Don't tell me I didn't warn you." He grabbed onto her hand and pulled her away from the bench. Sakuno wrenched weakly in his grip. Oh no, he wasn't letting her go back on this, even though in the back of his head, he was digging in his heels, too, but the flustered look on her face egged him on.

What was the first part of the dialogue again? This was in Fuji's perspective wasn't it?

Oh yeah, he remembered. Damn. Thank god the rest of his family was out Christmas shopping, or he'd be pretty thoroughly humiliated.

_He pinned you to the wall, grabbing your hands away from your face and pinning them by your sides. "There's no need to hide," Ryoma whispered in your ear._

Ryoma tried to put on his stoic game face but balked as he reached for Sakuno's hands, sliding his hands around hers and pressing her softly against the wall. It seemed like his sense of hearing became more acute as Sakuno let out a small gasp. He tipped his mouth toward her ear. "There's no need to hide."

He gulped as he remembered the next line.

_You trembled under his touch, still struggling. _The first part might have been true for Sakuno, but she definitely wasn't struggling. He blushed as her breathing came in gasps, and he felt both a sense of mild embarrassment and a surge of pride as he saw her face fixated on his.

He completely forgot the third line as his grip became loose around her hands, which correspondingly slid slowly around his neck. Sakuno gave a small chuckle. "Looks like I'm better at writing then I thought." She shyly closed the distance between them, sinking her fingers into his hair as their lips met. They stood interlocked for a few moments, still new to the process, then backed away from each other, each turning about ten different shades of magenta.

Sakuno stood, woozy for a while, before walking quickly over to the desk and 'backspace'ing over parts of the entry.

Ryoma tilted his head to the side, coming behind her. "What're you doing?"

Sakuno turned her head toward him and looked him in the eye, then blushed again, turning back to the screen. "There's no way I'm having him be that affectionate with you."

Ryoma's stomach flipped and he smiled. "There we go. Atta girl."

Sakuno hummed happily to herself as he ruffled her hair, typing away at her computer. She glanced over at Ryoma and remembered how all the fangirls raved about his 'golden cat eyes'. As their eyes met again, he unknowingly confirmed the rumors. Well, she was Koneko-chan, wasn't she, so it was a good match... She blushed for the (who knows which!)th time as a thought came unbidden to her mind.

**_My kitty._**

She resumed typing with a new vigor, her cheeks stained (what seemed eternally) pink.

* * *

I'd really love to say that parting is such sweet sorrow, but it's not honestly that way. In other news, sorry for going emo in the last (yes, so far away) chapter. Also, was the beginning a bit suggestive or what? :0

I actually tried starting it in a variety of ways, but they all sounded awkward. So there was my grand master work sentence.

So here's the usual spiel.

Thank you to all my readers for encouraging me...

...Your praise made me dance around (on the inside)...

...The criticism was great (sort of, all though it burned a little)...

...And I hope that you will read my future stories (if there are any at all. And you'd have to be really, super-duper patient because I update really slowly now, and when I do, it's really short. I'd do oneshots, but I have a hard time organizing my ideas.)

_-Tsubomi dons some German lederhosen. Grimacing slightly, she begins an awkward dance and joins arms with two reluctant, lederhosen-wearing readers._

**Tsubomi:** So long! Farewell! Au Wiedersehen, adieu!

**Readers:** Adieu! Adieu! To you and you and you!

_-The readers unhook their arms from Tsubomi and roughly grab the other readers, briskly escorting them off the page.-_

**Forcibly Removed Reader:** But wait! I simply _must_ comment!

_-The two readers look even more surly but push the reader toward the comment button.-_

**Tsubomi:** Goooooodbye!

_-Fin-_


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